# Fuck you, ultra-modern parking meter **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257 "2010-06-23T18:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/61 "2010-06-24T15:03:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > There was at least a decent tradeoff with the old system. > > You always had to put in more money than you might need, in order to avoid the risk of getting a parking ticket. (Or you might get a parking ticket.) But OTOH, you might be able to catch the last 25 minutes that the last guy in that space didn’t use. > > These ‘modern’ meters break that implicit bargain, and that’s what I find bothersome about them. If you’re not ever going to get a free ride on the time someone else didn’t use, the least they ought to do is enable you to pay for exactly the time you use. > > If they’re going to have a centralized box, rather than paying at individual meters, it seems the logistics would be simple enough: swipe a credit or debit card when you park, then swipe it again as you’re leaving, and get charged for the time in between. > > Having to play guessing games about how much time you’re going to need, and risking a parking ticket if you guess wrong by too much in one direction, is really pretty silly when you think about it. It’s just that up until the past 15 years or so, there was no better alternative. Now there’s no reason why there can’t be. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Or if they have the technology installed that knows when you pull your car out, just swipe it once when you arrive. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/62 "2010-06-24T15:17:59Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > But pretty much everyone has a cell phone and every cell-phone I’ve ever seen has a clock. Someone asks me for the correct time at least once a day. A different someone, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/63 "2010-06-24T16:21:10Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > So when in doubt round up? That’s always a good system to avoid tickets, but for people for whom money is tighter have to be more exact. Why not just include the time it expires and the time left, and make everybody happy? If money is so tight an extra $0.50 is going to impact you, maybe you shouldn’t be going out to lunch in the first place? But anyway, I do agree with you that it wouldn’t hurt to explicitly put the number of minutes you bought for people who don’t know how to subtract. I just don’t think it’s the crushing injustice that you paint in your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/64 "2010-06-24T16:23:58Z")
Just be glad they’re not using the parking meters Tokyo used back in the early 1990s. Those things were evil and had the following features: [ul][li]Automatically began timing you stay once you parked.[/li][li]Zeroed out when you drove away from the spot, meaning that there was no time left on the meter for someone else to get for free.[/li][li]When your time expired, a miniature version of a police car cherry started strobing to notify the parking enforcement officer to come give you a ticket.[/li][li]If you drove away without paying, the cherry also strobed. I don’t recall if there was also a camera positioned to get an image of the license plate.[/ul][/li] Yeah. Those were fun. Over here, we have two kinds of street parking: [ul][li]Human parking meter–some guy retired from another job hangs out on the street, covering both sides of the road for two blocks. You pay him for how long you intend to be there. If you depart earlier than intended, the city just got free money from you.[/li]Free for all, aka illegal parking. Name your type of illegal street parking and we have it in trumps. There’s parking on the sidewalk, parking in the restricted zone, double parking, triple parking. And I’ll never forget the classic quadruple parking that blocked traffic for a good hour. I can’t leave out just plain parking in the middle of the street either. That one’s quite popular. Tickets are rarely issued for any of this.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/65 "2010-06-24T16:26:53Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Someone asks me for the correct time at least once a day. A different someone, that is. But don’t you need a watch or some form of access to time piece regardless of the type of meter? I mean with an old meter, you might know you put in 2 hours worth of money, but how will you know when that 2 hours is close to being up? I don’t see how the shift to this type of meter impacts the poor watchless of society. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/66 "2010-06-24T16:42:26Z")
Did anyone else notice this asshole is using a parking meter so he can spend two hours getting drunk? After getting drunk, and the meter runs out, what exactly is he planning to do? Can we also assume he’s left his kid in the back seat with the windows up? It’s fucks like this that make me think the parking meter SHOULD require a skill testing question, otherwise his car should should. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/67 "2010-06-24T16:50:14Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Wow. > > Municipalities are struggling to find ways to increase revenue without increasing taxes, and this is one way they landed on it, by getting rid of the free parking that used to go along with mechanical meters. And apparently needing you to do something that almost every person who owns a car does these days, either wear a watch or carry a cell phone (either of which can tell the time for you). > > This outrageous behavior has led to this thread, denouncing such creative attempts at revenue generation. The GALL of cities to expect everyone to have to pay for their parking, instead of getting free time off someone else! The horror! I couldn’t agree more. The implied contract in this situation is that every driver should pay for parking in these spaces. The new machines ensure that this actually happens, and I’m glad the city is making more revenue. I would even say that the new system is more fair. I mean, yes, the free parking was cool, but making every driver who parks at a meter pay is actually a fair system. > [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > I’m at a park. Someone I trust not to horrid things to an apple leaves one behind. It looks like a pretty rad apple so I shout “you gonna eat that?” as they leave. They respond “nah go for it”. > > Like the abandoned meter time should I leave the apple to wast like the parking minutes because someone else bought and abandoned it? Would I have a lot of GALL to eat the apple? > > What if it was just an abandoned apple that likewise I knew was safe and abandoned? What the fuck are you talking about? An apple is a physical object and goes bad over time. “Parking minutes” are a social construct, and the idea that you would get mad for “wasting” them is beyond silly. It’s like the students who complain that they “earned points” on a quiz, as if the “points” themselves were objects I had stolen from them (as opposed to whether the grade given was fair for the response given). ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/68 "2010-06-24T17:00:07Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Did anyone else notice this asshole is using a parking meter so he can spend two hours getting drunk? > > After getting drunk, and the meter runs out, what exactly is he planning to do? Can we also assume he’s left his kid in the back seat with the windows up? > > It’s fucks like this that make me think the parking meter SHOULD require a skill testing question, otherwise his car should should. Busy bar beside major street. Mall parking on other side of street that bar patrons used after hours. People complaining to City Hall about drivers not being diligent enough in avoiding the drunk people crossing the busy street to their cars. People also wanted a special pedestrian crossing (they had to walk a bit on their side to get to a traffic light with crossing). The saddest part was that on the online newspaper article, people were commenting in support of a measure to protect the drunks walking across the street to their cars. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/69 "2010-06-24T17:05:27Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Did anyone else notice this asshole is using a parking meter so he can spend two hours getting drunk? Yes, and in between shots of tequila I will enjoy clubbing baby harp seals and juggling severed baby heads. With your mom. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/70 "2010-06-24T17:06:54Z")
> [@Time\_Stranger](#): > > We recently got this same type of system in my little town. I don’t mind them too much, but my favorite part about the whole thing is how environmentally-friendly my town council likes to consider itself; they are really vocal about how “green” our town is. > > …So they go from meters with no waste to a system where hundreds of little pieces of paper are printed each day, a good chunk of which seem to end up in the streets. Good work, guys. Heh; my city pretends to be green, too, but one of their favourite games is, “Ohmygod, people are driving on that road! Shut it down and make them either drive further to get where they’re going or get herded onto a busier street so they can spend more time stuck in traffic jams.” > [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh, that’s easy. I can spend 19/85ths of a day drinking in the bar and still have 1.2 x 10^14 picoseconds left to walk to the car. It would be really awesome if that was actually accurate, and knowing the Dope, there’s a good chance it is. 🙂 > [@Delayed\_Reflex](#): > > They have this system here in Calgary as well, but at the same time them implemented a cellphone-based system - you can make an account with your cellphone and licence plate, then just call a number and type the 4 digit number to activate. When you’re done parking, call again and deactivate it and the system automatically charges you the proper amount for the time that you parked there. The system also emails/phones you if you’re running out of time (eg. parked in a 2 hour spot) in which case you can just call again to renew. You have to pre-pay to put money in your account and re-fill it periodically, but I have to admit it is quite convenient. > > The on-the-street machines suck ass though. I noticed the big sign in a parking lot using the cellphone system the other day - “DID YOU REMEMBER TO CALL AND END YOUR SESSION?” I’m guessing it’s a bit of a problem. The on-the-street machines do indeed suck - we were trying to go to a restaurant downtown on a Saturday evening a while ago, and were trying to figure out from the machine if we were into the free parking time yet - we couldn’t find a way to make the machine cough up this information, so we went to a different restaurant with free parking. > [@emacknight](#): > > Did anyone else notice this asshole is using a parking meter so he can spend two hours getting drunk?\ That’s, uh, a good point. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/71 "2010-06-24T17:16:38Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > Yes, and in between shots of tequila I will enjoy clubbing baby harp seals and juggling severed baby heads. > > With your mom. If you had trouble with an _ultra-modern parking meter_, you probably lack both the coordination to juggle, and the opposable thumbs required to use a club. And if you refer to something that’s been around for at least 15 years as “ultra modern” I doubt you could handle anyone’s mother. As a lesson to us all, had SDMB required a skill testing question before posting, we might never had enjoyed this tasty little nugget. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/72 "2010-06-24T22:50:59Z")
I never have problems with parking meters for the simple reason that I don’t patronize cities that install them. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/73 "2010-06-24T23:11:00Z")
People patronize cities? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/74 "2010-06-25T00:53:45Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I never have problems with parking meters for the simple reason that I don’t patronize cities that install them. Your location field seems to be an attempt at cleverly stating “Los Angeles”. I guess you don’t live in L.A. anymore? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/75 "2010-06-25T07:07:31Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Ours is a little different in that the space doesn’t have a code, but the printed receipt needs to be visible on your dashboard, so if there’s “extra time”, you’re driving away with the evidence and it can’t benefit anyone else. That’s the most common kind of parking meter around here. The unwritten rule is that if you have a significant amount of time left, the polite thing to do is ask the next person to come along if they’d like the receipt to display in _their_ car. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/76 "2010-06-25T10:00:47Z")
Meh. Giraffe is just here because his board’s Pit doesn’t work worth shit. He hasn’t contributed to this board in a long time, and you do best to ignore him. What? His first post here is just to make fun of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/77 "2010-06-25T10:42:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Meh. Giraffe is just here because his board’s Pit doesn’t work worth shit. **He hasn’t contributed to this board in a long time** , and you do best to ignore him. > > What? His first post here is just to make fun of the OP. [You](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12611660&postcount=6) [are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12611113&postcount=339) [completely](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12610902&postcount=45) [wrong.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12607139&postcount=8) Wanna try again you [fucking](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12610546&postcount=9) [retard](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12607570&postcount=31)? He’s contributed more than you, you crying nancy boy. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/78 "2010-06-25T15:26:45Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Your location field seems to be an attempt at cleverly stating “Los Angeles”. I guess you don’t live in L.A. anymore? I do live in LA, but not the city itself. There’s plenty of places you can go without paying parking meters. Most malls and strip malls charge nothing for parking, and the ones that do charge usually give away the first couple hours if you buy anything. If I must pay to park, I go to a lot that has a flat fee. I simply don’t go anywhere that requires feeding timed meters. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/79 "2010-06-25T19:04:20Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I do live in LA, but not the city itself. There’s plenty of places you can go without paying parking meters. Most malls and strip malls charge nothing for parking, and the ones that do charge usually give away the first couple hours if you buy anything. > > If I must pay to park, I go to a lot that has a flat fee. I simply don’t go anywhere that requires feeding timed meters. Well then now you’re just being silly. If you don’t park at the meter but the meters are still there then you _are_ “patronizing a city” that uses parking meters. Obviously there are lots and lots of parking meters in L.A. whether you use them or not. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257/80 "2010-06-25T19:36:30Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Well then now you’re just being silly. If you don’t park at the meter but the meters are still there then you _are_ “patronizing a city” that uses parking meters. Obviously there are lots and lots of parking meters in L.A. whether you use them or not. Sorry for my lack of clarity. By “the city” I mean the “downtown” businesses that have only on-street parking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-ultra-modern-parking-meter/544257.md?page=5)